Category Archives: Publication

Meet the maker: Michael Ray

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Published in FT Weekend Magazine on 12/13th June 2010 Issue number 364:

Meet the maker

Michael Ray Global wetsuit manager

Product:

H Bomb

What it is:

A battery-powered heated wetsuit

In his words:

“About four years ago, we were brainstorming for ideas that would be futuristic enough to break new ground. The concept of a heated wetsuit had been around for a long time but finally we had the technology to make it possible. We wanted to aim the wetsuit at super-cold places such as Iceland and Norway, where they have amazing surf but the water is literally too cold to go in.

The biggest challenge was waterproofing the electronics. The wetsuit needs to keep your core warm enough to move blood to your extremeties, so it heats the back area from below your neck to just below your kidneys. The H Bomb is about 10 per cent harder to get into and out of than a standard wetsuit, but if you were in those cold climates you would normally need a thick wetsuit (6mm-7mm) and hood, boots and gloves.

Our wetsuit comes in 3mm, 4mm and 5mm versions with a built-in hood, and in warmer waters you can use it without the batteries. We use the best neoprene, E3, which is the stretchiest and warmest material we have. It is blind-stitched and there’s another layer of liquid seal to make sure the wetsuit is really waterproof. The batteries will last six months, and the electronics will last two to three years.”

A$1,499.95 (£870); www.ripcurl.com/hbomb

Future Stars

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Published on Don’t Panic on 7th June 2010:

The London College of Fashion presented its latest generation of fashion prodigies at The Dairy, London last week. As usual, the college’s graduates offered an eclectic mix of innovative design in texture, shape and colour with support from the well-heeled crowd, including everyone from singer Diana Vickers to entrepreneur Harold Tillman. The fashion pack crowded in, the models strutted to non-stop tunes and captivated the audience, before giving way to awards and a champagne reception.

The big winner of the night was Nattaphon Sampataphakdee, whose Collection of the Year Award was presented by NME’s Krissi Murison. The Thai fashion student’s collection, inspired by the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson, can only be described as gentlemen-in-bed with a cross between smart suits and pyjamas. His surprising ensembles never stopped playing with established definitions of masculinity in a breathtaking experience.

Other notable designers of the night:

Yelena Loguiiko

The Design and Technology winner took the audience to another time and place. Throwing together mohair and Mongolian wool with a dash of Picasso’s Portrait of a Woman after Cranach the Younger, the collection speaks 50s Russian glamour and luxury. No woman can be disappointed by the tailoring that says both power and sensuality.

Wei Ting Hu

Blink and you might miss the fact that this highly wearable collection was inspired by traditional Taiwanese buildings. Oranges and reds highlight the well-defined tailoring, while each form-fitting piece spins between fun and serious.

Xiao Li

This playful collection wouldn’t go amiss at Missoni. Knits, bobbles, beads and more all come together to create something that just works.

Kai Yeung Yau

When the first of Yau’s collection appeared on the catwalk, the universal reaction must have been one of shock. As the pieces went by, it was clear that their bold colours cut just so made a decidedly self-assured statement. Who knew colanders could be so chic?

What a week to begin

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Published on FT Workblogs on 1st June 2010:

Let me tell you a bit about myself. I had dabbled with the short-lived idea of becoming an accountant before graduating from the University of Bristol in 2008 with a degree in Philosophy and Economics. I then stumbled into a job for about a year and half before realising that really, I should have had the courage of my convictions at 16 to follow my dream of being a journalist. So an NCTJ course and a string of internships later, I have found myself at THE Financial Times feeling a little over my head.

My worry was not that I would be mocked for my journalism skills. This was serious journalism but I was well trained by this point and as an avid reader of newspapers, I thought I knew a thing or two. Rather, my concern was that I would be uncovered as a fraud in comparison to the real economists at the FT. This concern escalated when the tour of the editorial floors took me to the LEX column. As luck would have it, most of the journalists on floor one started around mid-day when news items began to flow in. Nevertheless, I looked at my feet and hurried past.

The Monday morning editorial meeting was certainly very insightful. A cool and composed Lionel Barber addressed the interns before whisking the team into a discussion about the previous weekend’s paper and upcoming news items. I tried not to breathe too loudly as I strained to hear and upon realising that I was not completely oblivious to the reports in the FT, that I still had a chance of holding down the fort, order was restored to my world. And a little smugness.

A comprehensive intern’s guide in hand and passwords at the ready, I was then sent to receive some intensive training in Méthode 4. Four hours later, I emerged bleary eyed but a little wiser to the ways of the FT. Having finally arrived at the Weekend Magazine desk in the late afternoon, where I was to intern for four weeks, I was launched straight into proofreading the copy for features to be printed at the end of the week. All in all, it was a fairly successful day one.

Inevitably I found myself blundering on day two by stumbling into a fully populated LEX section when I took a wrong turn at the stairs. Red faced, I shuffled out quickly thinking that anyone who saw me must have thought “who is this ridiculous impostor?” It was probably all in my head though because by day three I was already interviewing someone for “Meet the maker”. The rest of my week was packed with ideas research for future issues, fact checking, updating @FTweekendmag and proofreading copy.

So that was the hectic brilliance of week one. Now that I’m on the slightly steadier second week and judging by the tales of interns past, it could only get better.

Meet the maker: Benjamin Millett

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Published in FT Weekend Magazine on 29/30th May 2010 Issue number 362:

Meet the maker

Benjamin Millett Co-creator, Kug

Product:

Kug

What it is:

A mini kettle that doubles as an insulated travel mug

In his words:

“The Kug started as a project at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin to design a product that would make life easier for people with rheumatoid arthritis. One day, at an arthritis centre, we saw some ladies pouring their tea. We realised they were having difficulty with the small cup handles, which they couldn’t grip, and with the kettle, which was too heavy.

We started looking at everything to do with making a hot drink and how we could improve the process. First of all we thought about redesigning the kettle but then we decided to combine it with the mug.

We chose not to put a handle on it because the weight is then further away from your wrist joints. If you hold a cup in your hand, the centre of gravity will be closer to your wrist, so it will appear lighter.

The Kug is like a travel mug, it’s dual-walled and it’s insulated, but it sits on a dock the way that your kettle does at home, and plugs into a socket. The lid is very similar to the lids on takeaway cups but it’s made from silicone, so it’s more durable and flexible.

We think it’s great for students as well. You can have soup in it, you can do noodles in it, you can do hot chocolate. You can do anything that requires heating water.”

www.thekug.com

Matt Jones

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Published on Don’t Panic on 3rd May 2010:

Matt Jones

International celebrity and fashion photographer Matt Jones opened his first solo UK show with a private viewing at London’s Oblong Gallery on the 1st of May. I went to speak to i-D magazine’s New York editor about his work in photography

On taking shelter from the imposing sense of rain outside the bijou gallery space of Oblong, I was immediately confronted by walls of prints. The little exhibition showcases some of Matt Jones’s favourite images from over a decade in the industry. However, as you explore the photographs around the room, it becomes difficult not to be overwhelmed by their number and range of subject. To say it’s an eclectic mix would be an understatement. The selection ranges from portraits to landscapes, from nudes to, well whatever the opposite is. There are some very recognisable faces on the wall staring back but there are equally many average Joes vying for their time to tell their story.

Jones’ first ever solo-show took place in the summer of 2009 in the gallery space of Paris’ hipster fashion boutique Colette and featured many of the works on display at Oblong.

“It was really refreshing for me to go back and look at some of these pictures because a lot of these pictures were from many years ago”, the photographer explains. “The first portrait I ever shot, of Damien Hirst, is back there and the most recent would probably have been taken only a couple of weeks ago. So it really is a group of pictures taken over the last 12 years.”

So just how did he choose these photos then?

“Some portraits I have an emotional attachment to and for whatever reason it might have been an interesting or memorable day. Others were just portraits that I thought were strong for a historical reason. For example, there’s that McQueen portrait which has become almost untimely. I almost didn’t put that one in but I decided to because it was one of my earliest portraits and I felt very connected to it.”

Asked if he had a favourite, Jones laughs and points to a prominent photo on the left wall with a nude woman and old man.

“We use to take care of him. He was an amazing painter, with an amazing personal story. I was trying to encourage him to start painting again and wanted to introduce him to this model who I had photographed before, her name was Crystal. I was photographing her at his house and the idea was that he was going to paint her. Unfortunately, he passed away quite soon after that portrait. The portraits that I respond most to are people that I meet.”

In another photograph, an old lady in a wedding dress holds a portrait of a startlingly beautiful young woman wearing the same dress.

“I met her in Texas. I was actually photographing an actress at her house and I asked to do a portrait of her. The woman in the frame is her on her wedding day. I saw the picture on her wall, asked her if she still had the wedding dress and convinced her to put it on for the portrait. I guess for me when you stumble upon someone and it’s unexpected, those are my favourites. Another was a hitchhiker I picked up in Woodstock, that’s where we live. We got talking and turns out he was in a couple of Warhol movies and a couple of Bertolucci movies. He ended up coming back to my house and we did a couple of portraits together.”

It’s obvious from the photos that these are people that Jones’ has had a real connection with. They hold a special place in a chapter of his life. In particular, it’s people with stories, with histories, that Jones most enjoys photographing. Looking at some of the photos, it was impossible not to wonder what other stories he had extracted from his subjects while taking their portraits. Suddenly, the gallery seemed more alive. I wondered how his photography was influenced by working at i-D.

“I was around a lot of i-D photographers, so from a very young age I was aware of great portrait photographers like Wolfgang. There was Matthew Lewis who has recently passed away. He did a lot of work for i-D at the time and was a really strong portrait photographer. But now what’s really nice is to look back at early issues of i-D. I think there’s a simplicity to portraits and now I think it’s rarer to find that simplicity because of digital photography.”

Matt Jones’s exhibition is open until May 30 at Oblong Gallery, Islington.